President
Goodluck Jonathan on Friday [Mar. 13] admitted that he has not at anytime engaged King
Mohammed VI of Morocco in a telephone conversation as claimed by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. He said he had also not told anybody that he spoke with the
Moroccan monarch.

Jonathan
made the clarification in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and
Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati.

There
is an ongoing diplomatic row between Nigeria and Morocco over whether Jonathan
recently engaged the king in a telephone conversation or not. While the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement claiming that Jonathan spoke
with the Moroccan king, authorities of the kingdom denied the claim and
thereafter recalled their ambassador to Nigeria.

Abati,
in the statement on Friday [Mar. 13], said Jonathan was highly embarrassed by
the controversy that erupted over the incident. He attributed the furore over the
matter to the misinformation by the ministry. The presidential spokesman said
although the President asked the ministry to arrange telephone conversations
between him and King of Morocco, the President of Algeria and the President of
Egypt, he had yet to speak with the Moroccan monarch.

He
said, “President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is shocked, surprised and highly
embarrassed by the controversy that has erupted over whether or not he had a
telephone conversation with His Majesty, King Mohammed VI of Morocco. The
regrettable furore that has developed over the matter is due entirely to
misinformation as President Jonathan has neither spoken with King Mohammed or
told anybody that he had a telephone conversation with the Moroccan Monarch.

“It
is true that President Jonathan has been speaking with some African leaders to
seek their support for Nigeria’s candidate for the position of President of the
African Development Bank. In continuation of his efforts in support of the
candidacy of the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, for headship
of the AfDB, President Jonathan indicated that he would like to speak with the
King of Morocco, the President of Algeria and the President of Egypt.

“The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs was consequently directed to make necessary
contacts with the embassies of the three countries and arrange for President
Jonathan to speak with their leaders. Since that directive was given, President
Jonathan has spoken with the Prime Minister of Algeria and subsequently sent
Vice President Namadi Sambo to Algiers as Special Envoy to follow-up on his
discussions with the Algerian Prime Minister on support for Nigeria’s candidate
in the coming elections for the AfDB Presidency.

“The
President has, however, not yet spoken with King Mohammed VI and President
Al-Sisi of Egypt as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must know.”

Abati
said the President had consequently directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Ambassador Aminu Wali, to carry out a full investigation aimed at identifying
those behind the statement that he spoke with King Mohammed and their motives. He
added that the President had ordered that commensurate disciplinary action be
taken against the culprit(s).

He
added, “President Jonathan has therefore ordered the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, to urgently undertake a full investigation of
the claim which emanated from the Ministry that the President spoke with King
Mohammed VI. The investigation is to identify all those who were responsible
for the unacceptable act of official misinformation which has resulted in an
unnecessary diplomatic row with another country and national embarrassment.

“It
is also expected to unveil the motives of the culprits. President Jonathan has
also ordered that prompt and commensurate disciplinary action be taken against
the culpable person or persons. While awaiting the outcome of the
investigations, President Jonathan urges Nigerians to disregard the
vituperations of opposition elements, who have, true to type, latched on to the
regrettable faux pas as a fresh opportunity to unpatriotically denigrate the government of their country and
advance their irresponsible quest for victory at any price in the coming elections.”

He
said the investigation was expected to start immediately and there was no
specific time frame for the exercise. When asked why the minister did not take
responsibility for the national embarrassment instead of pushing it to his
subordinates, Abati said he does not speak for the minister but the President.

2
comments:

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There are two kinds of people in Nigeria today, those who want CHANGE and those who want CONTINUITY. If you want change you are safe, if you want continuity there are two things involved, is either you reside in LAGOS or you are in PDP. If you are in Lagos you are safe, if you are in PDP there are two things involved, is either you are Jonathan's family or you are naturally corrupt. If you are Jonathan's family you are safe because you’re going back to Otuoke but if you are naturally corrupt, there are two things involved, is either you leave this country before March 28 or you remain. If you leave this country you are save but if you remain, there is ONLY one thing involved, YOU ROT IN JAIL! Vote for Change Vote Buhari